Someone New
by Impress-the-Empress
Summary: How would you react if the girl you’re really interested in, is your new and extremely talented football rival?
1. Chapter 1

-I do not own Inuyasha and neither did I come up with using 'Taisho' as Inuyasha's last name or 'Monk' as Miroku's, so credit to those who did. Oh, and I do not own Gucci which is brought up in, I think the third chapter. Anyway, Thanks for the reviews!

"Here we are folks, its 3 o'clock in the afternoon and I'm here with _**the**_ Kagome Higurashi, running back and sometimes receiver of the school's Varsity Football team." The interviewer paused to show a charming smile for the camera then returned his gaze to the pretty dark-haired girl beside him. "Hello Kagome" he said.

"Hi" She waved.

"Now Kagome, would you mind telling the fans how one such as yourself became a captain of the Panthers." He moved in closely, acting as if her answer would come only in a whisper. _'Oh I'm going to be famous for this!'_

"Well, I…"

"Higurashi quit talking. We got a game to play!" A rough voice called, successfully ruining the recording and a couple of spectator's hearing.

"Right coach!" Kagome answered with a commending salute. "Listen Jak, I gotta go," she finished, speaking to the irritated interviewer as she put on her recently cleaned and shined helmet. "We're playin' our rivals today."

"But what about the interview…" Jak aka Jakotsu questioned desperately, though Kagome still turned and ran in the opposite direction.

"Kagome I need the extra credits…Kagome!" He pleaded once more, sincerely hoping she would come back.

"Bye Jak!" Kagome called leaving his and the cameraman's presence and disappearing into crowds consisting of her school peers that screamed "Panthers" wildly, and sadly, for Jackotsu, she didn't come back.

Jakotsu pouted and looked to the cameraman by his side. "See Ban" he whined "that's why I can't work with females."

-- - -- - -- - -- - -- -- - -- --

"Looks like the Puny Panthers got a new player." A rival team member brilliantly analyzed from the sidelines opposite the topic of the statement, who coincidentally, was Kagome whom most onlookers believed to be male.

"He's so short." Another chimed in with an amazing resemblance to the young man who spoke before.

The two players watched the new Panther with a critiquing eye, trying to decide whether or not he, who in reality is a she, was first-rate.

"We got this in the bag my friends, no worries." A third member spoke, speaking what was on the other's minds.

Apparently, the object of their attention wasn't first-rate after all.

"Right!" The similar looking guys yelled, both in deep synchronized voices.

"Hey twins, get over here!" their captain called and the cocky players now known to be twins immediately complied but not before they faced each other with mirror-image smirks and one said "ready brother" and the other answered "yeah, I'm ready...Panthers, we're comin' for ya."

-- -- -- - -- - - - - - - -

"Heads or tails?" the referee questioned

"Tails" Kagome answered with her hand twitching with anticipation as the coin sprung into the air with a _'ping'_ and flipped gracefully like a diver would until they'd hit the water and in this case the ref's hand.

"Tails it is, Panthers' ball."

Kagome smiled. _'Great we got ball first.' _A cry of "Yeahs and Panthers" sounded throughout the field and it made her teary eyed. _'We're so full of school spirit.' _She thought.

The kick-off began shortly after the triumphant yell and Kagome watched as the ball flew yard after yard and into Hojo's hands; a guy that badly wanted a date with her, but she never paid any mind to that. So instead she shouted "come on Hojo," and thought of how he was a fairly decent kick receiver and good to depend on and how she wouldn't be shocked if he carried the ball at least 25 yards.

And as her thoughts began to shift topics, Hojo gained those 25 yards, though he got far further than 25; he had scored the touchdown.

"Their defense is horrible. What happened?" A voice commented, obviously confused because it wasn't that long ago that the Panther competition had the best defense in the league.

"Yeah" Kagome admitted then turned to face who she was speaking to, though she wasn't expecting her ambitious interviewing friend and his cameraman. "Jak! You shouldn't be on the sidelines!"

Jankotsu opened his mouth to speak and scold her on leaving the interview, _'Goodness knows she needs some discipline' _he thought, but good ole Bankotsu had interrupted with a loud groan and said "Kagome, Jakotsu _**does**_ need the credits and I just want to leave, so…" Ban aimed the camera so it faced the female football player "talk about their defense a little."

Now Kagome wasn't doing anything right know and they probably wouldn't leave until they got what they wanted, so it made sense to do what she was about to do and that was to abide by their demands.

"Fine" she said as her gaze fell on the field and as her team prepared to make a field goal.

"I wouldn't know much about their defense before, seeing how I just moved here. But it seems like they're just confused about the play." She looked to the camera with a goofy grin then. "They're all running around like headless chickens!" She cried, relating to the many opposing members yelling at each other and running back and forth and as she hopefully wished that that last part would be random enough to keep people's attention.

Kagome sighed, fixing her gaze on the two in front of her. "Was that good enough guys?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yeah I guess, you coming Jak?" Bankotsu closed the viewer on the camera "Jak?"

"Hmm…Oh right." Jakotsu tore his stare off a beautiful boy sitting in the stands his wandering eyes landed on. "Sexy" he mumbled.

Kagome sighed. Jakotsu was the one that wanted the interview and it was only fair that he pay attention. _'I've got a bone to pick with him.' _She thought while defense made its way to the field, _'but not now.'_

-- -- -- -- -- -- - -- - -- - -

Inuyasha sat in his uncomfortable spot on the school stands stunned; he had to know why he was just looked at in such a manner.

Miroku smiled a knowing smile. "Would you like to hear my opinion?" He asked his friend as casually as he could make his voice sound between chuckles.

"What is it?" Inuyasha cautiously said.

'_To be surrounded by such naïveté'_ Miroku thought a tad bit bored but his smile grew so far that it should have hurt his face. "You have an admirer."

"What?"

"He likes you."

After some quiet time between the two Inuyasha, clearly embarrassed, changed the subject "what are we talking about this for any way?" He said and Miroku nodded a bit too seriously, "it seems you're right Inuyasha" He answered.

"Feh." _'I'm always right,' _came Inuyasha's verbal and mental reply.

"We're here to see if the Panthers are any good" Miroku continued, ignoring Inuyasha's weird grunt "and from my perspective, they are."

"We can beat'em."

Miroku nodded, again emphasizing the seriousness of the situation. "Yeah, but the short one could cause some trouble."

Inuyasha snorted. "What did he do to-Oh."

The short one (aka the new guy, aka Kagome) had, in fact, already added 8 points to the scoreboard when the Panther's gained control of the ball.

Six points being the touchdown and two the conversion, just in the conversation the two friends had and although defense was not the other team's forte, the new guy's feat _**was**_ pretty remarkable.

"Sango's right, they're good."

"Yes Inuyasha, it seems so" Miroku said grinning in a knowing way, "Looking forward to beating them right?"

"Yeah!" Inuyasha yelled with his hands fisted and stretched high to the sky, all the while scaring someone's five-year old brother in the process.

"Sorry" he mumbled.

-- - -- -- - -- -- -- -- - -

"Ugh" Everything hurt, though that was nothing new. Kagome felt like that after every game and it wouldn't be a surprise if one of the many people see complained to about this very topic wondered why she still played football.

"Hey mom!" Kagome cried entering the home and following that sweet aroma you could only get from cooking something delicious.

"Kagome" Her mother peeked out from the kitchen and smiled, "did you win dear?"

"Yeah…Where are grandpa and Souta?" Kagome asked and plopped down on a couch near the kitchen in a very unladylike way. Not that 'plopping' was ladylike at all.

"There out back and remember you have an interview tomorrow."

"Thanks for reminding me, I probably would have forgotten." Kagome answered and she found that she didn't have the courage to try to get up and travel to her room. So tonight, she was sleeping on the couch and that was a-ok with her.

-- -- - -- -- - -- - -- - -- - -

'_Wow, Mr. Taisho has a huge house.'_ Kagome noted and turned from the car window to check her appearance in the front mirror.

Teeth white? Check.

Hair done? Check.

Classy make-up with fun touches? Check.

Mr. Taisho, who she hoped to be her soon-to-be employer, had requested that she dress as she normally does but she couldn't help but feel obligated to dress like she felt a business woman would, after all, Sesshomaru Taisho _**is**_ a business man.

Therefore…businessy outfit? Check.

'_Done.'_ Kagome carelessly shut the mirror and headed out the car to the Taisho home. She questioned how exactly she was going to _**'assist'**_ Mr. Taisho. She should know, but she hadn't even found out about the job from Taisho himself, but from her principle, Mr. Myoga. How the principal knew the business man was also another mystery for her to solve, but certainly at a later date. So Kagome took in her last calming breath before her fist connected with the door and a knocking sound was produced.

"Who is it?" An obnoxious voice spoke through the speaker and was probably right now, at this very moment surveying her every move. _'Scary.'_

"Kagome Higurashi. I'm here for my interview with Mr. Taisho."

"Higurashi" the voice spoke as if she were beneath it.

"Yes. Kagome Higurashi" she said, predicting that this conversation was bound to get annoying. But she didn't get to claim if that prediction was true or false as the door flung open then and she was greeted with marble floors and paintings that looked as if they were billions of years old._ 'Maybe not that old.'_

"Girl…girl!" Jaken waited for her response and she hadn't answered. _'She's worthless already.'_ He scoffed

"GIRL!" He shouted and the high-pitched scream rang through Kagome's head and as intended the yell distracted her from ogling the houses beauty.

Jaken puffed up with pride for what he had done and cleared his throat. "Master Sesshomaru is this way."

Kagome followed the man as he led her to her future boss. _'Why'd he have to be so loud' _she whimpered and rubbed her ringing ear.

Jaken had led Kagome to a red wooden door with intricate designs on it. The only thing that made the door a little less stunning was the bright purple mark stretching the width of it. _'Who was playing with markers?'_ Kagome thought but she hadn't gotten to consider that long though, Jaken's rhythmic knock had interrupted.

Kagome raised her eyebrow; a small laugh escaping her lips. _'They have a secret knock…now that's funny.'_

But her amusement was cut short when Jaken turned and snarled at her. "Behave" he said, so she did and watched as Jaken turned the iron knob, slowly pushing the door open, which wasn't too good for her nerves.

Sesshomaru Taisho wasn't known for being kind and tolerant. And the fact that he was sitting behind a massive desk, staring at her with that _**'look'**_, as if he were trying to decide if she was worthy enough to be in his presence, was not making her feel any better about this situation than she had ever been before. _'What happened to the times when job interviews were easy?'_

"Come" Mr. Taisho commanded and motioned for her to sit. "We will discuss the arrangements."

-- - -- - -- - -- - - -- - -- - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Kagome mumbled to herself though she did not expect an answer in return.

"You will be assisting me Ms. Higurashi," Sesshomaru began in his commanding tone that made Kagome wonder if he was an 18th century king brought to the future with use of a time machine, "by watching over my child" he finished and he didn't have to wait long for a reaction. Kagome's mouth dropped and her eyes widened, unintentionally causing a stray thought to pass through Sesshomaru's mind. _'What had she thought I was hiring for?'_

--

Myoga had not told Kagome this, not in the least bit. He had said assist, as in "you have a meeting in fifteen minutes, ." Not babysitting. She baby-sat all the time, not that it wasn't hard work, she had to admit that it really is difficult watching over a child you're just a stranger to or just a child period. But she wanted to do something different, something new.

"Baby-sit?" Kagome had to make sure this was what he wanted.

Sesshomaru decided not to answer believing she could figure out the response to her question without his guidance.

Kagome fixed her face, she always could sense when someone was agitated and it seemed Sesshomaru wasn't far from being in that state. This job couldn't slip away.

"When should I start?" She asked and though the question was blunt, Sesshomaru had not shown any disapproval. Instead, he reached quite elegantly underneath his large desk and into one of the drawers' part of it. He pulled out a small manila folder and then gracefully flipped through the papers held inside, though his actions would be interrupted by Jaken's cry of, "Girl, speak respectfully!"

And it was then that Kagome felt her annoyance and uneasiness transform into frustration. But she held it all in only for the interest of her job and the fact that Jaken was told to leave the room, she gained some satisfaction with that.

Jaken nodded and quickly scurried away, but not before giving Kagome a glare before he left which as expected upset her further and so, it seemed Kagome didn't feel like having an internal struggle with herself about not striking back at Jaken, so she did what she wanted and struck back.

Sesshomaru watched Kagome make very childish faces to Jaken even though the man was no longer in sight. This whole interview had been such a disappointment for the business man. The only reassurance out of the conversation was that his daughter would definitely approve of the girl in front of him and that wasn't much comfort compared to having the two alone together, which would be (in Sesshomaru's words) "utter chaos." _'Why had Myoga recommended __**this**__ girl?'_

Though he would take the chance of hiring Kagome because of Myoga's reference but to make sure she would not make a mess of his child, he would have Jaken _**assist her**_ while she worked, longer than he had intended to in the first place.

"Be here by the established times." Sesshomaru said handing Kagome a paper with rules and a schedule printed neatly on it. "Myoga informed me of your football." He said speaking like someone who just saw the nastiest thing in _**all **_the universes and Kagome could have promised she saw him roll his eyes but she smiled anyway and gave her thanks to the man when he dismissed her. Then, when the door shut and she was standing alone in the strange mansion, she did what a few others would do in this situation without a guide, she got lost.

-- - -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- - -- -

Kagome had ended up in a hallway with a humongous chandelier that dimly lit the passage where she stood next to a room with its door wide open and in the room a boy, _'no…he's a man' _(she blushed) was leaning back in a chair, his eyes closed and earphones plugged into his ears. He was gorgeous. _'I mean Sesshomaru is __**way**__ up there, but this guy…'_ He had a certain kind of something that she loved.

Kagome stared intently at his silver hair that swung from side to side as he bobbed his head in time with the music he listened to. Her gaze drifted to his non-covered chest and soon she found herself leaning to get a better view. _'What am I doing?'_ She thought.

Kagome lifted her foot and carefully rotated so she was facing the room's entrance. Just a small step and she'd be out of here, effectively evading the embarrassment of being caught in the room… peeping. She hadn't made it though; Jaken was standing right in front of her, crying out "Stupid girl!" and "I went through all this trouble finding you and this is where you are?" as loud as he could. Kagome quickly muffled his voice with her hands and slowly, her eyes traveled to his face.

He was mad and seriously looked like he was going to hurt her. _'Maybe if I explain…'_ She thought.

She leaned down so her mouth was next to his ear. "Jaken, I need you to stay quiet" Kagome paused and glanced back to the once occupied chair that was now completely empty. She panicked. _'Where's the other one?'_

Jaken threw Kagome's hands off his face while mumbling about filthy women always touching him.

Kagome's eye twitched, _'he's wrong,'_ she thought, _'I am actually quite beautiful.'_

She prepared to open her mouth to let Jaken know just how wrong he was but the words would not be able to come out as a brassy voice interrupted and called, "who're you?" Unaware of the soon to come argument the owner of it was bound to be a part of.

-- -- - -- - - -- -- - -- -- - - - -- - -

'_This is the worst.' _Kagome thought thoroughly stressed. Her job was definitely in jeopardy now, if miraculously, it wasn't before. Why didn't she just turn around when she knew she went the wrong way? Why did she have to stay and watch the guy? He wasn't that good looking. _'…Okay, now that's a lie.'_

--

After following the sound of the ruckus, Sesshomaru had traveled through many hallways with the three _**"children" **_and ended in what seemed like his dining room to Kagome, where he spaced each of them out around a magnificently large table. "Jaken" He spoke in that authority voice again.

And this time Jaken flinched, though he wasn't the only one to do so. "Ye-yes Mr. Taisho?" He said.

"Do not speak." Sesshomaru answered and Jaken as well as Kagome followed this order and tensed up as they did so.

But on the other hand, Inuyasha was calm, a bit annoyed, but calm, with his mind on the girl he would definitely remember. _'Kagome's her name' _and he liked it. She had even spelled it out for him. "My name is KA-GO-ME!" she said. "K. A. G. O. M. E."

Inuyasha directed his gaze on the girl of his thoughts, staring at her pretty blue eyes that looked over to him once she noticed his eyes on her and when she tried to cover her resulting blush, he smirked. "Hey Sesshomaru" Inuyasha said. "Can we hurry this up? I got things to do, people to see."

--

'_Ugh more trouble.' _Kagome thought. Who knows what Sesshomaru would do now? What about her job? Did she still have it? And even though she couldn't believe she was concerned, she still questioned, _'how much trouble are the other two in?' _But that didn't keep her from voicing what she thought needed to be said.

Kagome looked to the person that heightened her chances of getting fired, signs of frustration forming on her face. "Why did you just say that?" She began, though one could say it was an overreaction. But she had dealt with Jaken the majority of the time she spent in this home, so it was to be expected.

"Are you trying to make this worse?" She continued.

And all that came to Inuyasha's mind was the word _'feisty.' _He glanced to Sesshomaru to see his brother's reaction and surprisingly, just barely, Sesshomaru was startled.

"Ha, Sesshomaru what's wrong with you?" Inuyasha began to ask thinking that his brother must have had a bad day or something because it wasn't often that Sesshomaru portrayed any emotion. But the question came out louder than he meant it to.

"I am right here. _**Do**__** not yell**_." Sesshomaru demanded and lifted his hands to his head to rub soothing motions near his temples.

It was the first real emotion Kagome had seen from him and it was irritation. She had caused so many problems after just an hour, which was a record in her opinion and she knew that Sesshomaru was being extremely lax for not kicking her out with a "you're fired!"

"Um…Mr. Taisho" Kagome began hesitantly, wondering if her apology would make her boss' day just a little bit better. "I'm sorry, this is my fault. I got lost, Jaken found me, and then you stopped our argument." She finished with an anxious smile, noticing that what she said wasn't anything new to him. "I won't cause anymore problems… well I'll try not to."

"She's coming back?" Inuyasha asked, interrupting with a slightly hopeful tone.

Sesshomaru ignored the question and gestured gracefully with his hand to the doorway, informing Kagome that now would be the best time for her to leave and accidentally he reminded her of her mother's friend who would always wave at her like that when she wanted to have an _**"adult" **_conversation with people over the age of 18, which Kagome wasn't at the time. _'They only talked about T.V. programs and stuff.'_

But Kagome got up and left, skillfully hiding her distress with the memory and not saying a thing about Sesshomaru's dismissal, not that she would anyway either and she didn't even show traces of anger when Jaken slammed the door behind her saying "Good Riddance" in the process. She just left in a mature adult way that most people wouldn't expect from her and when she got home, she took a much-needed, peaceful nap.


	3. Chapter 3

One Week Later:

There was something about Kagome that Inuyasha was, to put it simply, thoroughly attracted to. But ask him just what about her he loved and he wouldn't say. Not that he knew the answer. _'Probably her face_,' he thought, thinking about it for a second._ 'No, it's more than that…Maybe it's that sexy way she yells.' _He smirked while treasuring the one time they met, which he thought was so full of beautiful memories. _'Good times.'_

"Inuyasha, why are we at your house and not at practice?"

Inuyasha opened his eyes, where the sight of Miroku's curious face greeted him. _'That's right, Miroku __**is**__ here' _he thought.

"I'm meeting someone" Inuyasha simply stated as he leaned further back into the expensive leather couch where he rested. "You can leave if you want."

"Leave?" Miroku gasped. "If I could, I'd live here!" He shouted in a dramatic way with one hand across his chest, as he made his self comfortable on the floor beside a small wooden table that shined brightly and a football trophy Inuyasha earned some years back.

Inuyasha snorted "you basically do" he said, thinking back to the sixth grade when he gave Miroku a key to his home after noticing that his best friend was lonely. _'Me being the good guy.' _Inuyasha thought. But it wasn't like he _**minded **_Miroku because his slightly frisky friend _**was **_like family after all to him, but Kagome was coming and Inuyasha wanted to make a nice impression on her…alone. Though that plan didn't make much sense, his little sister Rin, who in truth was his niece, was there.

"And who are we waiting for?" Miroku said wiggling his eye brows, hinting that the-someone was going to be a girl. And she was, though she wasn't exactly coming for Inuyasha, but to baby-sit (not him of course), and he wasn't _**about **_to tell Miroku that. It'd ruin his rep.

--- -- -- -- - -- -- - -- - - -- -

'_I hope I can just relax when I get in there. Coach went overboard.' _Kagome thought and sighed. She pushed her sunglasses up to straighten them, and though it wasn't even remotely close to summer, she still wore them. But there was a reason for her out of season fashion…she was tired. She was so tired in fact, that thinking took a lot out of her. _'That's what I get for going to school on a Monday.'_

Kagome gently knocked on the door. _'Please don't let Jaken answer.' _She wished, waiting for her access into the home to be granted. And when the door had been swung open, not by Jaken (though he was in the area), but by a handsome brown haired, purple-eyed guy and a cute little girl that bounced excitedly by his legs, her wish had been answered.

Kagome smiled to both, but with a barely noticeable flinch. Realizing that, along with her legs, arms and back, smiling hurt as well. "Hi" she greeted through the pain and both of them smiled back. Though the young girl's smile was friendly and had been completely innocent, while the older guy smiled in, what seemed like, he had something in that mind of his that Kagome didn't want to be a part of.

Kagome looked to the young girl. "Are you Rin?" She asked happily.

"Yes!" Rin beamed back. "Rin's name is Rin."

"Well, I'll be watching you Rin, is that okay?" Kagome asked and Rin nodded back enthusiastically. _'Cute' _Kagome thought.

"And who might you be Miss?" The handsome guy asked with a charming smile.

"No one you need to know Monk." Inuyasha said breaking off the conversation from the couch he rested on inside the nearest room to the door.

Kagome smiled thankfully, though she wasn't quite as comfortable around Inuyasha as she would have been, had her peeping and their arguments never happened.

She took Rin's small hand in her own, and then walked through the doorway to the couch where Inuyasha was sitting. "Hey" she said with a slight wave. And although she stood there for some kind of greeting from him in return, she did not get a "hey" back or a "what's up Kagome?" But a "Blahhahaha!"

And _**that**_ can be translated into laughter.

Kagome dug her foot in the well-polished wood. What did she do that was so funny? Well, one could say that she wasn't the cause of Inuyasha's laughter or the other's amusement either.

Jaken had walked into the room just seconds before and currently, was standing behind Kagome completely and utterly upset, though his mood had nothing to do with the group's reaction. It was how he was dressed that did the trick. _'I'm pretty sure_ _he's Batman.' _Kagome thought after she turned and was greeted with the sight of Jaken and she watched Inuyasha laugh uncontrollably and Miroku quietly congratulate Rin on a job well done with the costume. Well, Jaken _**was**_ in black leotards.

"Girl" Jaken said ignoring the chaos that filled the room, while he looked Kagome up and down as if he were disgusted. "You should have been fired." He mumbled.

And Kagome only sighed in response. She was too tired to take anything Jaken said personally and she didn't want to bother with him either. So, she took a different route and turned to the little girl holding her hand. "Rin, what do you want to do first?" She asked and from the corner of her eye, she saw Jaken's teeth clench and his feet stomp out the room. He had wanted a fight.

And although Kagome wondered why, she decided to put it off until later. But her question most likely would not be answered and neither would what she had asked Rin just seconds before. Instead as "Monk" shut the door, Rin giggled loudly and pointed to Kagome's sunglasses. "Why are you wearing those?" she said.

But it took Kagome a while to comprehend. Though when she did, she answered with an, "oh…sorry" and a slight laugh. She pushed the glasses up so they rested on her head, momentarily forgetting that she had put them on for a reason. "This better?" She asked and once again Rin hadn't answered, but this time it was different from before, she hadn't giggled and pointed but frowned and whispered "Are you sleepy Ms. Kagome? Because your eyes are really…" Rin stretched her arms out to the side, emphasizing how big she really meant "red."

"What?" Kagome's silver-haired, golden-eyed love interest shockingly asked before grabbing Kagome's face and carefully examining the red in her eyes. "Why are you so tired?" Came his second question and it was as if he truly cared for her, even though their time together had been so short…and loud.

"Sports" Kagome answered and for some reason she didn't mind that he was a little bit on the ruff side and she didn't mind that she felt a rush of emotions flood her heart and that for a second she felt that she'd follow him for miles and miles as long as she had her bike with her.

And _**that,**_ she doubted, was healthy.

Inuyasha let go of her stunned face, causing Kagome to sigh. Already, she missed his touch. _'I think we have a real love connection here!' _She joked, trying to forget all the feelings she felt at that moment, and all the stress these strong feelings for this guy she just met caused. Though she couldn't, in the least bit, forget the part of her that secretly wished there was a real love connection and the other part that wondered if Inuyasha felt the same.

--- -- - -- - -- - -- - - - - - --


	4. Chapter 4

On a Thursday:

It was kind of awkward for Kagome to stand in front of her silver haired friend with the golden eyes of what has now been two weeks and realize that, even though she felt she knew him, in reality she didn't. She knew his name, which she learned from the one called "Monk" (birth name Miroku), on her first day babysitting for Sesshomaru and from there she learned that Rin wasn't actually Inuyasha's sister but his niece although he loved her like one and that Inuyasha was in fact, Sesshomaru's half brother. But that wasn't anything special right?

Kagome was curious about Inuyasha to say the least. There was so much to know…like what his favorite color is, and his favorite movies, games and shows, and even his favorite hat if he has one. So it wasn't a surprise when at the brink of being overwhelmed with all that curiosity, she blurted out question after question until only she understood what in the world was coming out of her mouth.

Inuyasha slapped his hand across her face, lightly covering her lips. "Kagome be quite...What's wrong with you?" He said and watched as her stunned expression relaxed into an irritated one. It was always sort of fascinating for him to watch the emotions fly across her face. "You're always saying random things." He smirked. "Weirdo."

Kagome rolled her eyes, _'he's such a jerk sometimes'_ she thought, as she tore his hand from her face and noted that he was staring.

"So…" Inuyasha began, and then rested his elbow on the bricks that made up Kagome's school, where he had come to ask her a question that's been on his mind throughout the whole day. "No babysitting today?"

He said it like a statement.

Kagome eyed him cautiously, "yeah that's why I'm here and not at your house."

"Right," Inuyasha said, though he looked nervous for some reason Kagome couldn't quite understand. "Why'd ya take the day off?"

"I have a game Saturday so coach's got us practicing harder."

Inuyasha frowned as he looked Kagome over, from the big long-sleeved shirt she wore that did not cover the nasty bruise on her wrist, to her baggy sweats. "Too hard" he mumbled and Kagome blushed.

It was given that she wasn't all too secure about her appearance at the moment, though she wasn't that affected by it because she was currently trying to figure out if, by any chance, Inuyasha was _**actually**_ concerned about her and if he was _**actually **_checking her out right now. Kagome didn't believe either were highly probable possibilities at all, but imagining couldn't hurt.

"Because I know _**I **_can't watch Rin." Inuyasha growled fiercely. "I bet cheap, freezer burnt, Sesshomaru wouldn't even pay me."

Looks like imagining did sting a bit.

"Well, goodbye Inuyasha." Kagome said, a bit deflated as she eyed her football teammates stretching on the field feet away and her coach who was clearly irritated as he tapped his wrist watch, angrily implying that her social time was limited.

Kagome's gaze landed back to the school bricks where she expected Inuyasha to be, who was similarly dressed in his own "play clothes" as her mother describes them. Apparently, Inuyasha had skipped his sports practice, once again endangering his life, and just so he could ask why Kagome wasn't babysitting. Maybe he wanted to find out if she had a date?

But Inuyasha wasn't there standing with swag that could make a bright yellow and obnoxious pink school uniform look like it was Gucci, anymore. He, instead, was in a 1979 Firebird, which Kagome guessed was his car, and was looking at her like he was expecting something.

"See ya." Inuyasha said after a while, pushing the petal to the metal, and thus, leaving Kagome alone and confused.

--------------------------------

'_6 o'clock and I'm still not home. What made me think I had to baby-sit? I already had that conversation __**with **__Inuyasha __**before**__ practice about __**not**__ going, who could have forgotten that? I mean it was kind of strange.'_

Well, it seemed Kagome could forget or maybe, yet again, her mind was filled with thoughts of football and absentmindedly, she traveled to the one place she secretly wanted to be. But who cares about the theories. Kagome had still shown up at Sesshomaru's gazillion dollar residence asking for Rin, and Jaken still wouldn't even let her in and still, it wasn't until he yelled, "YOU'RE OFF!...idiot," that she remembered she did have the day off and day's off are usually spent not working. Too bad she wasn't home because she was in desperate need of soup. The weather was freezing.

Kagome blasted the heat when she felt her car's engine had warmed up, as she drove down a small road that just called her, like in the movies when something big is going to happen, despite knowing she would not know her way back if she took it.

It didn't take long for her to reach a part in the mysterious path she had taken that made her stop and wonder. She had found what she believed to be a gorgeous, seemingly free of technology and human influence, place in the city that few people could possibly be aware of because there was no trash and there were not cars all over the place and she could not see even one electricity pole. She couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the flowers and animals for some time before deciding that the road had more to show her, that the mini-forest was just the beginning. So she rolled further down the one way road, which eventually would turn out to be a dead end and it lead her to an open section within the rows of trees, and in the wind-blown section she saw five people playing football.

Two, she recognized, though the one stood out the most in her mind. _'Inuyasha'_ she thought and she couldn't help but flinch because she thought of his name like a love-struck girl who found "the one."

Kagome tightened her scarf, put on her knitted hat and gloves, zipped up her warm heavy duty jacket, parked and took the keys out of the ignition. Then, taking in the last warmth from her car she opened the door and stepped out.

It wasn't as cold as she expected it to be, which made her wonder if she had been exaggerating before. But she decided that that wasn't important at the moment because getting to Inuyasha, Miroku, and friends without falling was a more serious matter.

"Inuyasha" she said as she got close to the small sized group, "hi!"

---------------------------------

'_Now this was unexpected.' _Miroku smugly thought. He watched as Inuyasha's smile grew as Kagome found her way to them. Miroku smiled a bit as well, _'she's quite the beauty'_ he thought.

--

Kagome found her self slightly troubled. What could she say to these five people who were being so nice to her, that would let them know she couldn't understand them because they kept talking over each other? The last thing she wanted to do was be rude, but is there a possible way to tell a group that it would be best when trying to create a conversation and keep it going, to speak one at a time and say it nicely?

But, she _**could**_ make out one thing though. It was that all of the five people around her played a sport for and went to the new public school that opened up around here, founded by a teacher who gained a lot at the casino one night, and that one piece of the jumbled conversation would lead her to a shocking eye-opener:

And it was that Inuyasha played football. That that was the sport he practiced after school and that he and the others are a part of the Knights. The school team herself and her Panthers would play against and a team already known for many wins. Kagome smiled slightly. _'The five aren't lying…they're good.'_

And the funny thing was…that none of them knew she was good too.

But as hard as she tried to keep from challenging the Knight players, she couldn't help but be defeated. Not that she minded.

Kagome pointed to the ball held between the hands of a guy with blue eyes and a smirk. He was handsome and in their own way, so were the other two people Kagome just met but sadly she had not noticed. "Let's play" she said.

And the obvious had happened between the time of Kagome's suggestion and before the teams were put together and on their own sides of the invisible line of scrimmage. Inuyasha had been against Kagome playing saying, "it would be annoying having to throw her the ball because she'll feel bad if I don't and then she'll just drop it and then the game'll get boring because we have to go easy on her."

And his teammates had thought about it, and decided that if the game got boring then it wouldn't be the worst thing. So they had voted for Kagome playing, which resulted in Inuyasha taking the football and grumbling an, "HIKE!"

And off they went.

--------------------------------

Watching Inuyasha look for an open player to throw the ball to was like watching a real NFL quarterback for Kagome and she soon declared in her stunned mind that he was AMAZING. But as sweet as this declaration is, it only harmed Kagome because when her mind refocused on the friendly football game she found that Hakkaku, who she was guarding, (trying to keep from catching the ball), and who was currently a member of the opposite team, was farther away than she expected him to be and the football was already flying toward him and he was prepared to catch it.

Kagome ran like it was fourth quarter and she was being trailed by her grandpa who wanted to tell her a story. She was fast. She ran past wide-eyed Miroku, and she past Koga, the blue eyed one, who tried to delay her journey to Hakkaku using his arms, and she past Ginta, who stared, and it was then and only then, that she was in front of Hakkaku with the ball in her hands.

She had to be quick or they would come to their senses and tackle her, so Kagome only stood in place for seconds before she was inches away from what the group decided was the touchdown area.

It was like the world slowed down for her, it always was every time she gained a touchdown and she was proud. Proud because she could keep up with the guys and proud because she was considered a valuable player in the beautiful game of football and she was proud she scored. She truly treasured the game.

"Uh wait a minute Kagome, that's not a touchdown."

Kagome couldn't believe he'd deny her what she earned. "Inuyasha you're making stuff up. We all know everyone agreed that this was the touchdown area and we all know that you guys didn't block." Kagome said, causing Inuyasha to sputter a little and try to come up with an excuse. But one hadn't come to mind.

"It's just not a touchdown Kagome," Inuyasha replied, "accept it."

Kagome's grip tightened on the football. "It is a touchdown and I won't accept it!" She yelled.

"No it's not and I say accept it!" Inuyasha yelled back.

"You're cheating me!"

"So!"

--

Miroku calmly sat down on the grass beneath him, knowing full and well that this little argument wouldn't be over for some time.

"Where'd you meet her?"

Miroku turned his body until he faced Koga who had asked the question and who was obviously interested in Kagome. It was obvious because he had pulled what Miroku called "The Koga", which involves the guy winking several times at the girl and inching closer till he could wrap his arm over her shoulders. Miroku caught the danger signs in that.

"What about Ayame?" Miroku asked.

Koga frowned some, then nodded toward Inuyasha. "What about Kikyo?" He asked. "Besides" Koga began again, "I just thought I'd ask a harmless question about my new woman." He finished, and they, Miroku and Koga, were thrown into uncomfortable silence.

"Ah! Ginta and Hakkaku," Miroku called, changing the stressful topic, "good of you to join us."

Both sat down beside Miroku with grins on their faces and eyes on Kagome and Inuyasha.

"Kind of entertaining isn't it?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah" Ginta said.

"Kind of" Hakkaku said.

And for once, one of the five Knight players' out of school get-togethers had not ended with an anger filled conflict between Inuyasha and Koga that almost ends the fragile friendship the two share, but this time, Miroku felt it ended in a weird sentimental way. The argument between Kagome and Inuyasha might just be another strange connection or spark that transforms their relationship into something more or it just might be meaningless flirting. Who knows?

But Miroku thought that whatever it may be was _'just what Inuyasha needs' _and he was fully at ease. He knew Inuyasha deserved something beautiful after his rocky relationship with Kikyo, his on and off girlfriend that surprisingly, no one was bitter towards for putting their friend through avoidable stress filled situations. It _**is **_said that love makes one do crazy things. Miroku just felt it was time for Inuyasha to move on.

So, Miroku sat with a smile on his charming face, listening contently to the "yes it is'" and "no it's not's" and it was then, that he decided that it would be a sad day if the moment between his friend and the baby sitter was interrupted and he wouldn't dream of being the one who ended it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	5. Chapter 5

Nope, I don't own Inuyasha.

Monday Afternoon:

Sango was looking at the clock again, but don't dare speak of it. For the beautiful brown-haired girl would just get angry and deny every word. Because her staring at the clock could only mean one thing and that one thing could only mean that she was waiting for a certain time in the afternoon. But don't stress. It isn't hard deciphering the reason behind her anger and what hour and minute she impatiently waited for. Seeing that her eyes would light up at approximately, 5:45 and coincidentally, at that specific time every late afternoon, the one and only Miroku Monk would pay her a visit. And _**that**_ was what Sango never wanted anyone to know; that she _**did**_ enjoy "Monk's" company and that she waited for him every work day even though each time someone asked if she was interested in him she'd answer, "No, not at all. Of course not. Have you noticed that he can't keep his hands off women? I mean he flirts with everybody!...not just me…No, no I am not interested in Miroku." But her secret would be in danger of discovery if one was to notice her eyes on the time and Sango was not very fond of unwanted discoveries involving her love life, so please don't mention anything related to clocks.

Although at the moment, it wasn't 5:45 in the afternoon, so Sango went back to organizing the mostly unknown comic books in the place where she was employed which also was not well-known. Though while she replaced comic books and moved some from different random locations in the store she thought of how she needed a day-off; a day-off from work and a day-off from school. And afterwards, Sango thought of how she wanted to travel. Of how she wanted to search for the legendary broken pieces of the Shikon Jewel with her colossal boomerang-looking weapon that had a name with a ring to it.

But Sango then decided that her adventure would have to wait, so she began searching the comic book store for a place to put the pile of comics in her hands that began with an "L," though the thousands of books that were scattered all over, and the thousands of books taking up counter space and covering each and every dark blue wall that made up the messy building, made her current task seem as if it could not ever be completed. But she would try.

Sango sighed as a young boy with black hair and brown eyes came in the comic shop and stood beside her.

"Hey miss" he said and Sango whipped her body in his direction. "Do you have any Time's a Wastin' comics? You know the ones about the Superhero dressed in yellow and green that travels through time with his pet squirrel?" He continued

"Probably" Sango replied as she watched the young boy's eyes fly across the stacks and piles and heaps all around them.

Sango put what she was holding on the floor then glanced toward the clock yet again and realized that it still wasn't time for the arrival of Miroku Monk and it wouldn't be for a couple of hours. So she focused on the brown-eyed boy once more, who was smiling at her, and asked. "You got time kid?" And he said "yes."

---------------------------------------------------

Video Recordings:

"Here we are again folks. Of course you know I'm Jakotsu your one and only school reporter and my brother here, Bankotsu, is the cameraman. Say hi Ban!" The reporter said and received a grunt as a reply.

"Anyway," Jakotsu began again, "we have a surprise for you my beloved audience."

"What audience? Only five people are going to watch this." The voice of his brother interrupted before the surprise could be revealed, causing a frown to form on Jakotsu's face.

"Ban!" Jakotsu yelled, "I know you don't want to be here but stop being rude."

"Fine."

The reporter's eyes twinkled as a result of the newly formed agreement and because of the little shocker he wanted to spread and replaced his frown with a smile. "We're here at the Knight's, the newly formed football team from the school that just opened up's, game against the Tigers. I know you're speechless right? But before we get started, just let me say that we're the first ones on this scene and we're even going to wear these..." Jakotsu turned around and the camera zoomed in on the writing printed on the back of his shirt, which read, "Panther's Dominate!"

The sight was lost as Jakotsu turned around and the camera was now recording his face. "Yes, that's right, I'm wearing our school t-shirt to a game our school is not even playing in and trust me," Jakotsu said, "Ban's wearing one too, so IN YOUR FACE SHIPPO our Journalism adversary!"

The camera shook a little as Bankotsu sighed longer than someone could think possible and as his brother calmed down. "And look" Jakotsu cried then pointed across the field to the other set of stands which held another set of fans, "Kagome Higurashi came to check out the competition. Dedicated, isn't she? But I'm afraid we'll speak with her another day. She was so difficult before, wasn't she Ban?"

"Mm-hmm."

--

"Twenty minutes into the game and I'm utterly bored. The score's sixteen to zero. The Knight's are winning and I believe I've seen the Knight quarterback before but I just don't know where. Oh well."

"Jak, tell them what that quarterback's name and number is."

"Oh right! Thanks Bankotsu." Jakotsu said before running his fingers along the pages of a small notebook he had pulled from his pocket that had useful information written in it. "His name is Inuyasha Taisho and his number is 28," Jakotsu said proudly. "You know Ban," he began again after his notebook was put away and after he saw a Tiger get tackled before the player got very far, "our Panthers are certainly in for a sour treat when they go up against those guys."

Bankotsu nodded a little after he followed the direction of his brother's gaze which focused on Inuyasha and his team, causing the camera to nod as well. "Maybe not a sour treat though," Bankotsu said to his brother, the reporter, "I think that if you say they're in for some unexpected and fierce competition, it would sound better," he finished and Jakotsu laughed, "no," the reporter responded, "we should stick with sour treat. It's kind of catchy."

--

"Hello again Audience. It is late in the third quarter now and number 52…umm…Miroku Monk, the Knight's halfback, has gained a touchdown and as a result a field goal was achieved by his team shortly after his accomplishment. So the scoreboard reads twenty-three to zero. No one scored in the second quarter or early in the third quarter. The Tigers stepped up their defense a little," Jakotsu said with the small notebook in his hand that he decided was easier to access outside of his pants pocket rather than in.

Bankotsu, the cameraman, shifted the camera so it could record the large number of girls holding "I HEART MIROKU!" signs, and then turned it so it was back to facing the football field. But unfortunately, Bankotsu wasn't prepared for the loud roar that flew out of fans' mouths causing the camera to come dangerously close to hitting the stands before he caught it.

"Interception made by Knight Cornerback (defensive player) with the jersey number 16" Jakotsu stated and the camera documented it. "His name is Kouga and I'm sorry but his last name is a mystery to me. Anyway, the Knights have their offensive players on the field and they have taken off. But the Tigers are really making it difficult for Taisho to get rid of the ball. However, Inuyasha just has to dispatch the ball into the hands of one of his teammates and this play will go as planned. And…FINNALLY SOME EXCITEMENT! Folks the Tigers have a player heading straight for Inuyasha and he is getting by and breaking the tackles of Knight after Knight after Knight. And now, he, the player, jumps in the Knight quarterback's direction but the ball still has not been released and it probably won't this time around." Jakotsu said speaking faster and faster after every sentence.

Then all held their breath.

And then, the flying Tiger flew very fast and very carelessly into Inuyasha Taisho, the Knight quarterback.

And then, Inuyasha hardly even moved.

_**And then**_, as all exhaled and as screaming filled the stadium along with the thundering of fans' feet, Inuyasha released the ball and it was caught by a Knight receiver who was once severely guarded but was now home-free. And as all this was occurring the camera picked up Jakotsu the reporter saying, "HE STILL STANDS!…STILL STANDS!...AMAZING!...TOUCHDOWN!...Kagome Higurashi has now moved from her seat."

--

"It's the end of fourth quarter and I find myself bored once again. There are ten seconds left until the game ends. The Knights are winning and I am cold." Jakotsu said and after a few shivers he spoke again, "Ban, the wind is blowing. Get me a jacket" he said, but alas, that wasn't going to happen because Bankotsu replied with a "no."

"Well," Jakotsu said as he directed his attention back to the camera, "awhile ago the Knights failed the conversion after that memorable touchdown they had and some time later, following that, the Tigers scored and tried for their own conversion to get the extra two points available but they were denied. The Knights will win with a score of twenty-nine which beats the Tigers score of six."

Jakotsu looked toward his brother once he finished his recap. "Has it been ten seconds yet?" He asked and Bankotsu said, "Yes Jakotsu," with a nod that caused the camera to nod as it had before and nearly ten seconds later, the recording stopped.

---------------------------------------------------

"Bankotsu and Jakotsu," said the fifth period Journalism teacher who didn't always focus on the written part of Journalism, "job well-done. Your hard work deserves the extra-credit. Although…" the teacher continued while tapping a pen delicately on a wooden desk in a classroom that held him as well as five other journalism students, including the ones he was addressing, "you did make some unnecessary comments here and there."

"Like what?" Jakotsu questioned.

"Well, you called out Shippo."

"We did?"

"Yes Jakotsu, you did. Perhaps I should subtract a couple points off your reward," the journalism teacher said. "But if Shippo doesn't mind then I'll just leave the topic alone. Do you mind Shippo?"

Shippo smiled a sly smile. He definitely did have fun ruffling Jakotsu's feathers from time to time and those feathers would certainly _**be**_ ruffled if the desired points were lost. But the high school's one and only reporter had been talking about getting an "A" in this class since the beginning of the school year, which by the way, started about a month ago. Shippo sighed; he didn't want to take away anyone's dream or anything. So, he'd help Jakotsu out.

"Hurry up and decide Shippo," Jakotsu mumbled, slightly swaying Shippo's decision of voting in his favor, though he did not know it.

Shippo frowned a little and said, "He can keep the points."

"Jeez Shippo, I knew you wouldn't let me have those extra credits. You know, you're supposed to respect Upper Classman…I guess all's fair in love and Journalism."

"What?"

"I said," Jakotsu began but he didn't retell his already stated sentence, as an alternative, he said, "wait you want me to keep the points?"

And the class, especially Bankotsu, nodded with a 'duh' expression and said "yes, yes he does" and then Jakotsu smiled wider than most of the people in the Journalism room had ever seen him smile before and he said "thanks Shippo. I'll make sure not to get mad the next time you spill juice on my homework."

Shippo let out a small laugh. "Really?" He said, "That's nice. But I don't recall ever doing that."

Jakotsu groaned, "I know you remember when and why that happened." He replied, and the look on his face undeniably illustrated his frustration perfectly.

"I do?" Shippo asked.

"Yes, you do."

"Well, did _**you**_ know that _**I**_ think you just made that juice and homework thing up?"

"…Shippo, I hope you know you're ruining my good mood."

"Yeah, I know."

------------------------------------------------------


End file.
